DUTA Press Release; 16 November, 2017

                                                                                                                           
Teachers of University of Delhi gathered for a Protest Dharna at the SCOPE Building, Lodhi Road at 10 AM on 16th November to protest against the Orientation program for Principals on the issue of Autonomous Colleges organized by the UGC.

That the orientation programme for Principals to nudge / bulldoze Autonomous College scheme was held in a building for *Standing Conference for Public Enterprises* which has been established “to enable its member enterprises to be globally *competitive in a market driven environment*” is no coincidence. The venue is in keeping with the character of the Autonomous College scheme as well as associated Graded Autonomy Scheme for Universities, making university rely on loans from Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) rather than UGC grants and tying up university to a tripartite agreement under GFR 2017. Autonomous College Scheme grants arbitrary powers to college governing bodies to determine fees & start courses in revenue generating mode. The Graded Autonomy Scheme classifies universities into three tiers, grants full autonomy the top tier to do business in education & research, the second tier to do business in employment oriented skill and threatens closure to those in third tier unless they become business worthy. The tripartite agreement binds universities whereby they have to commit raising fees gradually every year and raise revenue through commercial activities in academic & training courses.

The teaching community expressed total shock and dismay at the Government’s attempt to bulldoze the scheme of Autonomous colleges over individual colleges in a top-down manner. By touting autonomy as a way to improve quality and further academic excellence, the Government wants to abdicate its responsibility by refusing to allocate adequate funds to meet thesevere infrastructure deficit and needed increase in the number of teachers.

The DUTA strongly believes that the move to forcibly convert well-established Delhi University Colleges into Autonomous Colleges is a part of the agenda to further commercialisation. The brand names of colleges will be used to convert them into teaching shops. “Financial Autonomy” means less government funding and greater reliance on earning through market-friendly courses. The cost of education will steeply increase; every aspect from tuition fees to hostel facilities and examinations will become means of generating money.

The Delhi University had already witnessed a huge furore from teachers, karamcharis and students when the Finance Minister in his budget speech in 2017 announced the scheme for Autonomous Colleges. Newspapers have been reporting the moves made by several colleges for grant of autonomy including St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College, Hansraj College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Sri Venkateswara College and PGDAV College.

The DUTA remains strongly opposed to Autonomous Status for the colleges of Delhi University as it could have very adverse effects on the service conditions of teachers and karamcharis besides making quality public education unaffordable for large sections of people.

The DUTA is committed to broadening its movement against the scheme of Autonomous Colleges by reaching out to students, parents and members of civil society to build opinion against these insidious moves of the government to dismantle public-funded education in the country.